Newb in the Planning Phases

[jennreeves]

Hello all! My has and and I are planning on starting a small flock in the naer future. We're looking to supply our egg lovin family of 3 with farm fresh eggs and educate our toddler on where her food comes from (along with the myriad of other benefits urban farming provides). We are a military family and are currently renting. We don't have a lot of construction know-how and don't know many people in the area. I've read many of you say that the prefab coops aren't worth the money. I came across these coops made locally an wanted to know if they looked suitable for 3-4 chickens (Sussex or Wyandotte are my favorites so far).

http://clarksville.craigslist.org/grd/4410366756.html

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/4410236999.html

We live on about 2 acres but most of it gets very swampy with any amount of rain as well as being extremely windy. We plan on free ranging on a limited basis as there are lots of hawks in the area. Other concerns are also snakes, raccoons and possums. I realize the hardware closures may need to be changed to make them more predator-proof. I thought the tractor system would allow us to move the coop around the yard during the day and come back to a more protected "home-base" at night where we could use some type of pin to secure the coop to the ground.

Any thoughts or suggests are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jennifer

 

[donrae]

Those coops are cute, and look to be reasonably well made, well as I can tell from the pics. It's a good design and they're probably not too heavy for one person to move.

However.......
They're way, way too small. Don't ever trust how many birds a seller says a coop will hold. Go by the guideline of 4 square feet per bird in the coop, and 10 square feet per bird in the run. For your 4 birds, that would be 16 square feet of coop and 40 square feet of run. More space is always better!

The numbers above aren't a hard and fast rule, but they're a good guideline to work with. Free ranged birds can get by with less enclosed space. Birds that are going to be confined all the time are going to need a little more. Birds that are kept where there's bad weather and lots of snow probably need more coop space.

Overcrowding is probably the biggest cause of behavioral issues in birds. It's why commercial farms debeak birds, as overcrowding can easily lead to pecking each other, up to cannibalism

. They need enough space to be able to run away from a more aggressive bird and just not get on each other's nerves so much.

I wouldn't put more than 2 birds in either of those coops, myself.

hello everyone, im selling some very affordable and pretty looking coops ...........they range from 175 to 345.......this one for sell is for 175.00 its got 2 nest boxes and has handles in front and its got wheels on back for easy mobility...............has perch inside..........this setup is 3x2x6...........has tough cage wire on outside to keep out animals........has 20ga wire on very bottom to keep out predators..........has door in coop and yard for etc..........has a pullout cleaning tray.............has a galvanized roof and cap so they wont rust......also has a free range door in front of yard so you can free range your chickens on your property if you wanted.......thanks for looking........call or text me at 1-931-235-9220........have a great day......i also have other coops for sell as well and they are new and also affordable.

ON SALE...THESE WOULD MAKE SOME GREAT AFFORDABLE GIFT IDEAS..............GREAT LOOKING COOPS HERE....THIS MODEL IS 300.00....THESE WILL KEEP YOUR CHICKENS WARM THIS WINTER.....hello everyone, im selling a brand new portable chicken coop here........has 4 nest boxes with lids.......very affordable and very nice.........has 2 perches inside.......has handles in front and its got wheels on back for easy mobility.......has hunter green galvanized roof and cap so they wont rust........has tough cage wire on the outside to keep out animals and its got black coated wire on very bottom to keep out predators...........has door in yard and coop for etc..........this will easily hold 12 or less chickens............this setup is a 3x2x8 with a pretty colored ramp and 3x6 coop on top of 8ft yard......this also has a free range door in yard so you can free range your chickens on your property.......thanks for looking......call or text me at 1-931-235-9220.....have a great day.

 

[Folly's place]

x2!